Let’s censure Farage for what he seems to be saying then rather than what he actually said. Russia’s paranoia about The West and the threat (that it perceives) of NATO expansion was provocative regardless of whether you, me or Stan’s burgeoning home decorating business think it ridiculous. Does that justify Putin’s aggression? Absolutely not. Did Farage suggest it excused Putin’s aggression? Absolutely not.
You really should check what I said before accusing me of putting words in Farage's mouth. Did I say that he excused Putin's aggression? Absolutely not. Farage said 'we provoked this war'. The obvious implication is that 'we' should have rejected requests to join NATO from countries seeking protection from the threat of Russian invasion because Putin might not like it. We should have appeased Putin. What else could he mean?
Sounds a bit of a nutter...you could get the council in to mediate, but if he's as dogged as you suggest, then he probably wouldn't listen to them anyway, even if they bring in the big boys (who I assume are quite friendly with your other neighbour). He may delusional and he believes all of your house actually belongs to him - I'd be careful he may try to move in sometime soon, watch out if he starts amassing gnomes on the border between your gardens
How amusing. Outraged that I accuse you of putting words into Farage’s mouth and then tell us all the “obvious implication” of what he said. We haven’t even touched on the Euromaidan revolution that saw the Moscow-leaning Yanukovych overthrown and the pro-West Zelenskyy replace him.
It is an obvious implication. Please tell us all what you think he actually meant then? Ah, I see, 'we' did that then, did we? If that's what Farage meant, which I seriously doubt, he should have made it a bit clearer, don't you think?
I’m not a mind reader like you, Strolls, so cannot say for sure what he meant. If you saw the interview with Robinson you’d have seen that it was but a brief exchange that wasn’t explored in any detail. There have been many commentators that have expressed similar views and how Russian paranoia may have been stoked by NATO or EU expansion, as well as the suggestion that Euromaidan may well have been encouraged by the CIA. I can at least see how this may have contributed to the Ukraine War. After all, Putin ultimately annexed Crimea as a direct consequence of Euromaidan. None of this is excusing Putin’s aggression whatsoever, but I at least accept the possibility that the last c. 10 years of Ukrainian history may have provoked Russia. And, in reverse, Putin’s aggression has led to Finland joining NATO and expanding NATO’s border with Russia by over 800 miles. So it goes on. It’s from sequences like this that world wars start, which is why I posted the Blackadder clip. Personally, I’m quite worried about this stuff.
Strolls, here’s one of your own (George Robertson) expressing the view that EU expansion may have contributed to what Gary Lineker might describe as the “Ukrainian thing” and that, in his opinion, Putin was less bothered about NATO. https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2024/05/george-robertson-nato-why-russia-fears-european-union
Yeah, that's interesting. It seems Robinson didn't press Farage to explain his 'we provoked this war' comment, which is a bit of a dereliction of duty. Let's hope that other journalists will do that for him. I did see this clip, where he blames the failure of Brexit on net zero .....
I suggest you watch it again because he didn’t say that. He blamed net zero on the decline of our manufacturing base. There may be a net zero factor, but I’d suggest manufacturing has been in steady decline in this country for at least 50 years as businesses have moved facilities to China, Mexico and other cheaper territories.
Why do these idiots use terms like “absolutely DESTROYED” when it was nothing like? Bit embarrassing that.
He was asked to explain how Brexit had failed. Blaming the decline of our manufacturing base (which as you say has been happening for decades anyway) on net zero is bizarre way to do that.
Not going to have the Brexit argument for the umpteenth time, but he said we’d risen in the export league table post-Brexit, but that this has been due to services rather than tangible products. I’d be interested, however, in whether our domestic net zero policies adversely affect the pricing of UK-manufactured products and make them less competitive on the world stage. I have no idea on this.
